Wrath's Twin
by xXBloodyIllusionXx
Summary: Locked away by her own family at the age of six, Ira is released from her water prison and ready for revenge. How will she cope with the knowledge of a six year old, especially when her twin is now in charge of a group of crazy, homicidal hooligans? OCxSurprise
1. Chapter 1

_**Wrath's Twin**_

**Warning: Probably some **_**OOC**_**ness, a little bit of a sister complex too...There shouldn't be too much blood or swearing (scratch that, definitely **_**lots**_** of swearing. I mean just look at the title. We already know one of the main characters. Of **_**course**_** there will be swearing). And I may do this story from the point of view of the canon characters more than my OC just to try something different. I also hope all the time skips and other time related info adds up properly . . . **

**Note: On names, let me just say that because they are technically in Italy, they will not address people by last names, with suffixes (with the exception of Lussuria because he is just like that) nor will the names be written backwards (last name, first name) because they are, I repeat, they **_**are**_** in Italy. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own KHR, why bother saying anything else? My OC is mine, though.**

**~PROLOGUE~**

_Eighteen Years Ago:_

"Papa, where are they taking me?" Tears welled up in the child's eyes as her father bent down to her level.

"Ira, these men are going to take you somewhere safe for a while, ok?"

"Please don't make me go Papa! Don't make me leave you and Xanxus! Please!" The Ninth watched through sad eyes as the young girl was dragged away by men almost three times her own size. "Papa, please! I don't want to leave you! Not now, not after I just met you! Please, Papa, please!"

Upstairs in the mansion, a young, raven haired boy listened to the screaming of his sister. Thoughts of regret filled his mind as her yells for him and their father slowly faded on the wind. At last only silence remained. Silence and undeniable _anger_.

_The Present:_

For as long as Ira could remember she had been in darkness. Confined by her family, Ira had grown to understand the darkness. The way it was always despised by the light, always so misunderstood — much like herself. Ira had been given to the Vendice by her father. She had trained herself to forget the memory. However, she stilled lived with the pain it had left every day. She could only live with the realization that her life — if what she had could be called a life — was built upon her deeply-rooted desire for revenge. She knew that one day they would pay. Yes, her father and his guardians, all of them would pay for sentencing her to a life of eternal damnation.

There were times in her exile when Ira wondered how she had held on for so long with only her thoughts to keep her company. Maybe the thought of revenge was so desirable that it kept her strong in the dark depths of Vendicare or maybe it was because she had long ago gone insane. Yet, despite these possibilities, she knew for a fact that it was something completely different. She remembered it clearly. Even if it had only existed for a few brief moments. The expression that had been on his face, so sad, so torn and so guilty as he was led away, away from her. The emotions twisted his small features even more so than they were usually. He had been the image of grief and hatred summed up in one person. She had known him well enough to understand what he probably felt at that moment — extreme guilt that would plague him his whole life. Of course, Ira knew that her twin had had very little power at the time, besides his wrath, which would only have allowed him to get so far.

Cast into the deepest section of the Vendicare prison, Ira was kept secret from everybody, her existence unknown to everyone except for a select few. She had no interaction with anything or anyone. Her days consisted of remembering her brother, every single detail of him, from his expressions, to each and every highlight of his face, as well as planning revenge on the family that had left her to rot for years and dreaming of redemption from the cursed prison that had become her life...

Until _they_ came.

**~CHAPTER 1 AWAKENING~**

Xanxus sat in his blood red chair, one hand supporting his cheek, the other a glass of expensive red wine. Discreet thoughts of life floated around in his head, never _fully_ acknowledged because of the constant alcohol consumption. His mind did, however, insist on focusing on a thought, a memory, from so long ago. His beloved sister, the one who had been born only a few minutes after himself. However, the memories were fading. He had not been very old when she was taken away.

Yet now . . . now he had the power to get her back. He already had, in fact . . . almost. The arrangement had been made, but now his trashy subordinates had to go pick her up without the Ninth knowing. Xanxus smirked. That damn scum had it out for him and he knew it. After eight years, he was ready for revenge — revenge he was sure his sister would enjoy along with him. Xanxus could only imagine that look of absolute shock that would be on the Ninth's face. Especially when two of his _children_, supposedly locked away, came back to kill him.

Xanxus glanced at the clock on the wall, ticking away. It was a recent addition to replace the one that had sat there before, the one utterly demolished before its time. Time was ticking by slowly, the minute hand slowly progressing towards the number six. Two hours since the last update. Two hours since Squalo had called him to announce their arrival at the airport nearest to the Vindice's base. Two hours too long.

Angrily, Xanxus threw the empty glass across the room where it shattered, the remaining droplets of liquid cascading slowly down the dark wooden panelling of his office. "Fucking trash taking their merry fucking time," he growled, his eyes searching the room for more alcohol, only to find light streaming in around a silhouette at his door.

"Eh!" One of the maids was standing in front of the door, eyes wide. "I'm so sorry, Lord Xanxus, so sorry, please let me clean up this mess and get you a new glass." Xanxus' eyes narrowed.

"Get the hell out scum. But get me some more wine, god damn it." The maid squeaked again before scurrying out of the room. Xanxus focused his half-opened gaze away from the clock and to the silent black cell phone on his desk. It began to vibrate.

Not wanting to seem desperate to the trash on the other end of the line, he took his time picking up the sleek cellular device. That included slowly lowering his feet to the ground in front of his desk and then leisurely flipping the phone open and pressing 'talk'.

"What the fuck is it, trash?" he asked, putting himself back into his earlier position.

"VOOOI! We picked her up, boss!"

"Well, why the fuck are you talking to me when you should be getting your trashy asses back here?"

"Ushishishi~! Commander Squalo is in for it now~"

"SHUT UP YOU STUPID GRINNING BASTARD!" Squalo turned his attention back to his phone only to find that the line was dead. "VOOOI! YOU STUPID FAKE PRINCE!" And all Belphegor did was laugh some more.

Xanxus, on the other hand, was sighing in mild relief. His boiling anger had reduced drastically to a mere simmer. She was real. She wasn't some strange figment of his imagination, made up when he was young. He wouldn't believe it until he saw her.

At that moment, the maid re-entered, her face flustered and her hair wild. In her hand was a crystal glass filled with the sweet, once-burning liquid called wine. He drank too much of it for it to burn for him anymore.

"Hurry up, scum. I don't have all day." The maid stepped forward, offering the glass before disappearing from his sight through the door. Breathing in the heavenly scent, Xanxus swallowed the few contents that were in the glass in one quick gulp. "Tch, probably a new maid — she didn't leave me the bloody bottle." Irately, Xanxus pulled his booted feet off the table again and let them fall almost gracelessly to the floor. He manoeuvred his way around his desk and the many broken glasses and bottles that lay forgotten on the carpeted floor.

He slammed open the door and marched down the hallway. Someone needed to just _die _— preferably his _father_ but he could wait for the time being. He just wanted his anger to be tamed and with no shark around to use as target practise, he was left on his own to find another form of entertainment. He couldn't terrorize the kitchen staff — that fucking smiley trash had them under control. He couldn't kill off the cleaning staff — the fag harassed them daily. Nor could he terrorize any of their technicians — sharky would come back and yell his ear off about how hard it was to find so many people of their calibre. And he absolutely hated listening to whiney sharks. So that left those boring trash that stood guard at ever damn entrance to the mansion. They were useless. Who in their right mind would attack the _Varia_? Who?

So, Xanxus made his way to the nearest door outside, not minding the fidgety servants who stopped working as he passed to bow and mutter a low, "Lord Xanxus," in acknowledgement. That stupid umbrella scum had forced them to do that to show "proper respect" for their boss. Fuck, like he needed them to do that. They would fear him with or without Levi having somewhat reminded them of their place.

Finally reaching the last set of doors, Xanxus pulled out his guns. Oh yes, he was going to have some fun today.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Hours passed before there was a loud ruckus in the main hall. Xanxus closed his eyes and groaned. He had just finished changing into some clean, blood-free clothes and he was ready to treat himself to something strong, but now the alcohol would have to wait. Wait. The scum were back. Back. From Vendicare. With his sister. Ira. Xanxus opened his eyes. After eighteen years, eight of which were spent in ice, he would finally get to see his sister again.

"VOOOOOOI! Boss! We're back!" Xanxus smirked. Now his plan for revenge was complete. The only step left would be to carry it out.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

The sensation was strange to her. She felt like a fish out of water. Maybe she was. Something just didn't feel _right_. But what on earth could it be? What could be different in the depths of hell? Ira just couldn't place it. That was, until her body began to awaken. It started off slowly with her being able to wiggle her fingers and toes, but soon, after a few minutes, perhaps hours, the freedom of movement moved to her wrists and ankles. As more time elapsed, she was allowed more movement. Soon she was able to control even the smallest movements and she forced herself to open her eyes.

She blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. Her eyes watered at the sheer brightness of the world. However, after even more time passed, they adjusted, making out distinct colours and shapes. And when she allowed herself to focus on her surroundings her heart leapt slightly. Was this . . . dare she think it? Was this . . . home? No . . . they made it perfectly clear when they brought her to that blasted prison that she would probably never get out as long as she was a threat. Then where was she?

"VOOOI! She's awake, boss!" Ira screwed her eyes shut as the words echoed violently in her head. She had been in silence for far too long.

"Squ-chan should quiet down. This is like a hospital and you are _not_ supposed to yell in hospitals."

"Shut it scum. Get the fuck out of here before I kill you both," another voice interrupted.

Ira opened her eyes again and attempted to sit up. Who were these people? Was she being held captive somewhere? Again, Ira shut her eyes and fell back weakly. All this thinking was hurting her head. However, Ira was pulled from her thoughts as she heard the door to her room swing open and close. Forcing herself to open her eyes again after some time, Ira's eyes searched the room before focusing on the man standing before her. Her heart almost stopped and tears sprung into her eyes. He had barely changed. In fact, practically nothing but his size had changed – not even his blood red eyes that burned with angry passion.

"X-Xanxus," she managed to whisper in a hoarse voice. Tears fell. "I-I knew you would c-come." He didn't respond. He only stood in front of the door wearing the same stony expression.

"We are going to get revenge on that bastard Ninth for doing this," he declared at long last. Ira smiled. How long had it been since she had last smiled? How long since she had had the ability to smile? She had hoped he would say that. "We're going to kill him. You are coming with us." Ira stared. True, the idea of revenge excited her, but had Xanxus always been this demanding? Thinking back on it, he probably had been.

"Well, woman?" Ira smiled again, nodding her head slowly so as to not make herself sick. "Good, we operate as soon as you regain your strength. For now meet the scum that work for me." Then he was gone and Ira was left alone once more.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Xanxus was pacing. She was back and he had yet to see her. He couldn't. No, he _wouldn't_. He didn't want to seem desperate to his subordinates, but at the same time he wished to prove her importance so that the scum wouldn't fuck with her. So, what could he do? Storm down there like he owned the place and expect to be allowed to see her? Obviously. He practically owned the place and that _was_ his sister. How could he not be allowed to see her? If he wasn't, he would blow up all the scum that lived in the mansion no matter what the feather trash said about it being in his sister's best interest if he let her rest in peace for a few days. Yes, that is what the fag trash told him when they got back.

"Tch, what the fuck am I waiting for? I can just go down there right now." So that is what he did. He left the warm serenity of his alcohol scented office and walked the short distance to Ira's room down the hall. He immediately heard an argument between two of his subordinates, to be more specific, Squalo and Lussuria.

"Shut it scum. Get the fuck out of here before I kill you both," Xanxus growled angrily, interrupting the boiling fight between two of his least favourite subordinates . . . then again . . . everyone in the god damned mansion were his least favourite subordinates . . .

Almost immediately the two underlings left the room, Squalo grumbling about gay nurses in the Varia and useless demanding bosses that sat in their chairs all day. Xanxus was tempted to punish him for the immature comment, but decided that there were other, more pressing, matters to attend to.

Xanxus breathed deeply as he prepared to open the door. He set his mouth into a thin line and tried to look as emotionless as possible – after all, what kind of boss would he be showing an emotion as weak as love? Did that feeling even exist for him anymore? Was this all just for revenge? He shook his head before taking a step towards the door.

Opening the door Xanxus entered. His eyes focused on the girl in the bed. Her dark hair was not as long as it was when they fist picked her up apparently, for Lussuria had taken the time to cut it. Her crimson eyes, which had taken very little time to spot him, seemed almost lifeless. Her hands lay limply at her sides.

However, despite the look of sickness she had, she forced herself to speak. "X-Xanxus." She paused, the tears coming to the corners of her eyes. "I-I knew you would c-come." Xanxus couldn't speak. Was he really related to her? This . . . this . . . this _girl_ who seemed so weak? Her voice, though deepened through puberty, still betrayed a hint of childishness in it. It was just so . . . odd. Yet . . . this act of childishness came with reason. She had been imprisoned, cut off from the world and all that it could teach — left alone at such a young age — it all made sense. Try as he might, Xanxus could not blame her. There was only one person to blame. His sorry excuse for a father.

"We are going to get revenge on that bastard Ninth for doing this," he hissed. He paused and was surprised to see a smile creep onto her face. "We're going to kill him. You are coming with us." Xanxus watched for her reaction to this information as well. It was blank at first, as if taking time to process his words.

"Well, woman?" He wanted to get this meeting over with. So when she smiled again and nodded, Xanxus understood her unspoken agreement and promptly continued. "Good, we operate as soon as you regain your strength. For now meet the scum that work for me." Then Xanxus left, breathing deeply. Who knew that this one reunion could have so much of an effect on him? It felt like he had just run a marathon. _Him. _The one and only _boss_ of the _Varia_. Who sat in a _chair _all day.

"Damn brat," Xanxus muttered.

"VOOOOII! Boss!"

"What the fuck do you want scum?" Xanxus made a _tch_ noise before allowing his gaze to meet that of his second in command.

"She is your sister and after what? Eighteen years you only talk to her for one minute?" Xanxus glared at the silver haired man before him. Who was he to question his actions? He had had nothing to say to her in the first place. He was lucky he managed to say anything at all.

"Fuck off, scum. Go and tell her the plans. Then introduce her to the other trash when you are done." Squalo sighed before going to Ira's door. Xanxus' eyes followed him. "And as soon as she is ready you better start training the woman, too."

When Squalo entered the room and disappeared behind a closed door, Xanxus smirked when he did not hear any _voi_. If he had, that trash shark would have never lived to see the light of day again. So, with a contented smirk Xanxus left the antechamber and withdrew to his room a few doors down. _Things were bound to get interesting. _

**Author's Note: Well, I hope you are wondering **_**why**_** she was sent to the darkest depths of Vendicare at such a young age (hopefully?). IT IS MY SECRET! Mwahahahaha! :D And I am so sorry is Xanxus is a bit OOC, but I needed to get across a few thoughts and that was the only way. **


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm sorry if Xanxus is a little OOC but it is partially due to the fact that he wants ultimate revenge against his father and in order for that he needs Ira to think like he does and be willing to do as he wants.**

**I'm sorry for the large number of page breaks as well . . .**

**Thank you to: Msdgirl, MrsRegulusBlack123, MissCuriousBird, and EternalSnow for reviewing. Thank you to those who favouited or are now following this story.**

**Disclaimer: Honestly, what would you be doing if you owned KHR? **

**~CHAPTER 2 VARIA WELCOMES YOU~**

Squalo was not a happy shark. No, he was not. He had spent the last two hours trying desperately to explain everything to Ira, the boss' oh so intelligent sister. Wait did he say intelligent? He meant to say childish, desperate brat whose intelligence had been frozen at the age of six (and remained practically unchanged for eighteen years, mind you). So no, he had no reason to be a happy shark.

"I-I'm sorry, Squalo," she stuttered nervously as Squalo rampaged around the room. "I just don't get why I was imprisoned."

"The Ninth did not trust you." This was the simplest breakdown of the situation he had managed to think of. Rather that than go into the detailed way that he had come up with the statement. That in itself included the overall fact that no one actually _knew_ why she was sent to Vendice at age six.

"But why did he go so far?"

"You were a danger to the family. In the mafia, that is what happens to threats, whether or not it is fair." Ira sighed. It just made no _sense. _What had she done in the few days she knew the Ninth, that her brother hadn't, that made her so untrustworthy to go to the deepest cells of Vendicare? _Nothing_.

"Squalo . . . can I ask you about my brother instead?" Squalo froze. He had been about to exit the room via the door, but her question, so simple, so expected, surprised him. Xanxus. He was her brother whether or not Squalo wanted to believe it. Yet, what was there to say about him? He was unbelievably strong no matter how much he drank, he was extremely lazy for he always sent others to do his jobs, and he had never actually mentioned he had a sister until about two days before they had retrieved her from Vendicare . . .

"He . . ." An awkward moment of thought followed.

"He . . . ?" Ira continued in an effort to get him to finish.

"Voi! Do you want to know about him or not?"

"You stopped talking. I was trying to get you to answer," she stated as if were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Tch . . . look. He is the boss of the Varia. If anyone opposes him he kills them. If one of us does something wrong, he fucking throws something at us. If he wants something he will get it, otherwise everyone suffers." Surprisingly, despite her strained innocence, Ira smiled.

"I knew it."

Squalo exhaled. He almost feared her reaction, but she just . . . smiled. After hearing about how much of an ass her brother was she only _smiled_. Yeah, that whole family was messed up.

"Well . . ." Squalo trailed off again. He really wanted to leave. His damned boss should be explaining this shit to her. Why was he doing it? He could be training or yelling at those trashy subordinates below him.

"Wait!" Her voice had finally managed to reach a regular volume as she forced herself to call out for the shark commander. Squalo turned while Ira coughed slightly, seemingly from the effort she had put into calling his name. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Voi! How would you know?"

"You're avoiding it. You have been even though I have asked you all these questions that should help you explain." Again, Squalo froze. What the fuck? This girl was even more messed up than her brother. One moment she was so dense that she couldn't understand simple concepts, then _BAM_ and she knows he isn't telling her something.

"Yeah, fine, woman. You can ask your brother that one."

"What?"

"Scum." Squalo and Ira looked to the door where Xanxus stood. "Are you done yet, trash?" Squalo nodded firmly before walking out the door. He could only say that he was glad that he survived. Who knew what the Boss would do if he did something wrong? For all Squalo knew, he probably had a sister complex that would make any punishment worse.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Xanxus had been listening the whole time, even though he had planned to just return to his room. He listened trying almost desperately to understand his twin. That is, if anything Xanxus did _could_ be described as desperate.

"Xanxus . . . what is it you aren't telling me . . . ?" Xanxus didn't even contemplate his words before he jumped into what he had to say.

"Ha, that old man was a lying bastard. He still is." Ira looked confused. "We were never his. That bastard lied to us, he lied to our mother, he _lied._" Ira's eyes shut and she sat there, trying to sort her thoughts. Xanxus watched her fists clench and turn white, a smirk forming on his face. His plan was working. If her anger towards that fucking old man grew it would be easier for her to kill him. So, being the man he was, Xanxus added fuel to the fire. "He froze me too when I tried to get revenge. For eight fucking years." He trailed off.

"Why?" Her voice cracked slightly. She looked back up at Xanxus. "I . . . I know now he hated me . . . did not trust me . . . but I barely knew him . . . and he . . . he froze you! Xanxus! Why? Why did he do this to us?" Xanxus looked at his sister. Little did she know that same question floated around his mind each and every day of his life.

"I said he was a lying bastard. And he will get what he fucking deserves, you got that?" Ira nodded hesitantly before her lips curved upwards into a delicate smile.

"Thanks, Xanxus." And he was gone again, leaving her alone to her own thoughts on her new life.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

When Squalo left, he set off in search of the lead officers in the Varia. Bel, Lussuria, Mammon. He couldn't bring the Cloud Guardian because Gola Mosca had no power source. Of course, everyone had volunteered a few subordinates, but Xanxus, being the picky ass he was, had insisted that Gola Mosca was designed for no one but the Ninth, just in case the original plan didn't go as smoothly as they hoped.

Squalo sighed outside Lussuria's room. Sometimes he wondered if it was good that Xanxus was back. Eight years in solitude did a lot to one's leadership skills. Squalo shook his head. He should never doubt his boss. At least, not while he has his anger. _Never _while he had his anger.

"VOOII! Lussuria! Get your ass out here now!"

"Squ-chan! You called!" Lussuria came bounding out of his room after having slammed open the door. "I thought you would never forgive me after almost getting in trouble outside of Boss-chan's little sister's room! But you did!" he gushed.

"Shut up!" Squalo stormed off down the hallway with Lussuria right behind him, showering the hallway with pink feathers from his boa. "Go fetch Levi and meet me down the boss' hallway." Lussuria froze.

"Levi? Why do _I_ have to get Levi? Squ-chan you are so mean!" But he was off again, practically skipping down the hallway, thankfully in the opposite direction of Bel's room. If Squalo was lucky, Mammon would be with Bel preventing the need to go to the other wing of the mansion, the one closer to the treasury . . .

What? Did you think a greedy Arcobaleno would allow the Varia to store their money in a public bank where anyone with enough skill could break in and steal it?

"VOOII! Brat! Open the door!" A few ushishi's later, the oak door opened, revealing a sliver of the prince behind the door.

"Yes, sharky~?"

"Get your ass out here! The boss wants us to meet his sister!"

"But I already saw her."

"She's awake now, she wasn't before," Squalo pointed out.

"I don't want to. Make me." Bel shut the door leaving Squalo alone in the hallway.

"VOOII! TRASH, GET THE HELL OUT HERE BEFORE I RIP YOUR INTESTINES OUT OF YOUR ASS AND SHOVE THEM DOWN YOUR THROAT!"

"Muu, commander, you're loud enough to break the supports in the mansion." Mammon came floating up beside Squalo, shaking his head.

"Mammy!" Bel cried childishly as he opened the door and pulled Mammon from the air, pinching his cheeks enthusiastically. "So puffy, puffy, puffy~!"

"Voi, let's go."

"Ushishishi~ Yes commander sharky."

"VOOII!"

A few minutes of walking with only the sound of Bel squeezing the life out of Mammon later, Lussuria and Levi intercepted them in the hallway just outside Ira's room.

"Finally, getting to meet another of the boss' blood to see if they measure up to his greatness!" Levi exclaimed, a hand cupped over his heart.

"Ushishishi~ No matter how much you sugar coat it, pervert peasant, the boss' sister would never marry you."

Levi's expression flashed to one of anger, but Squalo interceded before anything could amount from Bel's snarky comment.

"Voi! Shut up trash." Everyone complied, knowing that their own boss resided in that hallway as well. Squalo knocked on Ira's door with his gloved hand.

"Come in," Ira called softly from the other side. Squalo entered to see Ira where he had left her, alone and wearing a troubled expression. "Oh, Squalo, you're back. You just missed Xanxus." Squalo almost did a double take when he heard how calmly she spoke his boss' name before he remembered that she was technically entitled to that serenity when it came to the Varia boss.

"I came to introduce to you the other scum of the Varia. This here is—" Lussuria pushed him aside and took over the introductions.

"Lussuria, but call me Mama Luss. That over there is Levi." He gestured nonchalantly in Levi's direction.

"As the boss' right hand man, it is a pleasure to meet you," he greeted, bowing, before Bel interrupted.

"Ushishi~ He's actually a pervert so you might want to avoid him. I, on the other hand, am a prince."

"This is Belphegor, but we all just call Bel. Then there is Mammon, our resident illusionist and accountant." Ira didn't question his logic (what, having a baby as an accountant isn't weird?), to Squalo's surprise. She just nodded as a signal to move on. "And that is everyone you need to know! So?"

"Um, thank you, I guess." She gave a shy smile that Lussuria accepted graciously.

"You are _so_ welcome honey~!"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

By the time a week had gone by, Ira's strength had returned and she had begun confiding in Squalo about things she noticed around the mansion. To Squalo's surprise, he didn't mind her comments. Some were actually quite funny and others he found himself agreeing with.

"Can you please get Lussuria to leave me alone? He is always in my face asking me what I need, if I am comfy, if I think the Varia is great. I just want him to go away half the time, but when I bring that up he starts to cry."

"Just tell him to fuck off or Xanxus'll have his ass on the wall." Ira shook her head, a small smile adorning her lips, until her face went back to its normal, neutral expression.

"Is he really that scary? My brother, I mean," she asked, changing the subject.

"Did you see how wet my hair was yesterday?" She nodded. "His fault because _I_ forgot to order some Japanese sirloin." Squalo twitched at the memory. "Threw a fucking glass full of wine at me," he muttered.

"I guess living in luxury has its benefits then. He likes all the expensive stuff." Ira looked away for a moment, dejected.

Squalo knew what it was. Xanxus grew up with everything he could ask for. Ira was thrown into a pickle jar for something nobody quite understood. She had nothing while Xanxus had everything resulting in jealousy that was not uncalled for.

He wondered what it was like, to live for almost two decades without anything or anyone but yourself. You are alone for so long . . . Squalo scowled before struggling to find something to say.

"I know you want to ask about it," she said, interrupting is thoughts. "Go ahead. It's not like a question will kill me." Squalo blinked. When had she turned her attention back to him?

"I . . . well . . . voi! I was wondering what it was like in Vendicare." She chuckled at his unfamiliarity at his with the subject.

"I knew you were going to ask something like that . . ." She paused, gathering her thoughts. "Hell," she finally decided, no longer smiling. "I was aware of myself, aware of everything. I just couldn't _do_ anything. I've realized that it is a lot like being almost asleep. You can hear people talking, think of things to say back to them, but you just _never_ wake up all the way. You are stuck there, with nothing but your thoughts to keep you company. And you just wish you could die. But you can't. You keep breathing. Whatever it is about that place, it forces you to live." Squalo instantly regretted asking her that question. She looked so pained. Xanxus would kill him if he saw her at that moment.

They sat there in awkward silence.

"Voi, I have to go." Squalo stood up and as he reached the door, he heard Ira say something.

"It was nothing you said. I told you to ask and I answered, even when I knew what you wanted to know." Squalo walked out the door with a frown on his face. That girl was absolutely strange.

Down the hall, Squalo was interrupted from his thoughts by none other than Lussuria.

"Squ-chan! Were you off with Ra-chan again? You naughty, naughty boy. What would the boss say, hm?"

"VOOI! I was doing no such thing. She was just telling me how much you annoy the shit out of her!"

"What?" His hands flew to his face, feelings of shock and betrayal radiating from his now stiff form. "RA-CHAN!" Lussuria ran off in the opposite direction and Squalo scowled. Gay pervert was always looking for drama that didn't exist. Just because he enjoyed the company of someone did not mean he was interested in them romantically. Squalo was not a romantic guy. He liked swords and sharks. That was it. Period. No more. End of story.

"Trash." Was the boss neglecting his chair now in exchange for stalking his own twin?

"VOOII! Boss!" Xanxus looked up from where he was leaning on the wall, scowling at the volume of Squalo's voice in the close quarters of the corridor.

"You do anything to hurt her and I'll fucking have _your_ ass on my wall." He had been listening into their conversation! Slimy bastard.

"I have _no_ interest in _your_ sister," Squalo seethed.

"We'll see, scum." Xanxus pushed himself off the wall and turned in the direction Lussuria had gone. Squalo watched him, wondering if he intended to threaten (and possibly beat) the crap out of Lussuria. Probably.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Finally, one night the following week, Ira came down to eat dinner with the rest of the Varia for the first time. She was at the opposite end of the table from Xanxus. On either side of her was Lussuria and Bel. She sat and picked at her food, moving it to either side of her plate, not really hungry.

"Woman, eat your dinner." Ira looked up to see Xanxus' red eyes glaring at her.

"I don't want to," she shot back almost immediately. All the servants in the room looked at Ira, frozen as they waited for the inevitable. In truth, they had no idea who she was, but they figured, as a guest she would abide by their lord's rules. But she just said _no_ to Xanxus. In other words death was imminent.

Lussuria, using the mother instincts he had, saw what was coming.

"Ra-chan, if you don't eat you will never regain your strength. Then the Ninth will never get what is coming to him." He seemed a little uneasy. It was probably due the large number of threats he had received earlier that day, many of which he was hesitant to let the boss (or one of the subordinates) carry out.

Ira gave Lussuria a look of contempt before using her fork to stab at a lone fried mushroom. As she chewed it she glared at him and swallowed.

The rest of dinner went by at the same pace with the same tension residing in the air. Xanxus didn't look back at his sister until the plates had been cleared away and everyone else had left to return to their rooms.

"Well, woman?" he asked finally, just as she was about to leave.

"Well, what?" she responded placidly as Xanxus took a sip from his wine glass and stared at her with an unreadable expression. When she realized that he was waiting for her to say something, she sighed. "Xanxus, I'm sick of these games. I know there are things you haven't told me and I don't know why. I'm in this too, you know, as your sister . . ." She trailed off and looked at him sadly. "I just want you to tell me why the hell I went to Vendicare and you didn't. Why I suffered and you didn't. Why . . . why . . . why all of this happened." She closed her eyes, nervous about what his reaction might be.

Xanxus' eyes burned as he watched her try to calm herself. Then he smirked.

"If you want to know, you are going to have to ask the old man made you go through it," he spat. "You train and become useful in battle, then you can ask him all the god damn questions you want."

"Fine," she concluded, her voice quivering slightly. Xanxus stood up, ready to leave, but Ira spoke again. "I never thanked you, you know." Xanxus looked back at her. "For getting me out of there, I mean."

"Do your part, woman, and you won't have to." Then he left and the door shut with a muffled thud.

"Thank you anyways, Xanxus." She sighed, leaving to go to her own room, not at all aware of the three Varia subordinates who watched and heard the whole exchange between the siblings. Squalo, Bel and Mammon all passed around looks.

**Author's Note: I swear, this is not a SqualoOC fic in any way shape or form. Squalo + OC = friends, not that Squalo will admit that. Romance will exist, but at the moment it is way far off. For now, we just need to get through the Varia arc **_**then**_** we get to major (romantic) action. Heehee.**

**This chapter is meh. Just a filler really, to get Ira through her recovery and stupidity and childishness and all that jazz. But, some of that will continue in the next chapter, before she can actually become useful . . . did I say useful? I might be lying.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you to all the wonderful people who reviewed, followed and/or favourited. You guys are awesome. This is a . . . strange chapter . . . another filler, really, that leads up to a random idea I had for chapter four. So . . . yay for Mammon, I suppose :D And Xanxus. Because Xanxus needs so much more love. **

**~CHAPTER 3 VARIA CREEPER~**

"If you want to make any money as an assassin, you must know how to read and write." Mammon floated over top of the pile of thick tomes. They towered over Ira who had never written anything, let alone read anything, her whole life. Being brought up in the poorer regions of Italy, as well as being locked in a liquid filled tube before any real schooling could be offered, had taken its toll on Ira's education. So here Mammon was, planning on teaching her the basics of reading and writing in her own language as well as the basics of six other languages. At least he had let her choose three of the six languages. She had chosen Russian, German and Spanish with the already chosen English, French and Japanese.

"So, how am I going to learn all of this in six weeks along with weapon training?"

"That is not my problem. I am being paid to teach so I will. You better appreciate all the time I am taking to do this."

"Well, should we start then?" Mammon nodded and immediately jumped into the basic Roman alphabet. For the next week, that was all Ira did. She spent hours perfecting her printing and writing, all the while, learning how to read. Mammon was a good teacher when he wasn't going on about money. He was patient (making Ira wonder how much he had been paid to do teach her in the first place).

Soon, she had gone from reading short, five word sentences to with ones with ten to fifteen words. While she figured her own progress was impressive, Mammon was disappointed.

"If you really want to prove yourself to be on the same level as the boss let alone the other members of the Varia, you better hope you can learn faster." After that he drilled her three times harder making her spell words that started out simple enough, things like leprechaun and schedule. Then she moved onto words that were slightly similar but she doubted she would ever see again, like quincunx and syzygy, but still, they progressed to the even more ridiculous. He forced her to spell words she doubted she would ever even see again, let alone use, like floccinaucinihilipilificatio n and antidisestablishmentarianism .

Then, to make matters worse, she was forced to learn those exact words in six other languages all the while pronouncing them exactly as they were made to be said without stuttering or second guessing herself.

Then began the following week where she began the task of having to juggle not only meals with furious studying, but also sword training with Squalo. Ira was not going to do well there; she knew that for a fact. She had little to no stamina so she would not last long in any battle, let alone training, especially with sword master Squalo.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

"You are holding it wrong again," Squalo said tiredly, rubbing his forehead. They had been at it for only half an hour, just trying to get the basics of sword fighting down, but no matter how many times Squalo corrected her grip on the long sword she always went back and accidentally rearranged her hands into a completely different position.

"It doesn't feel right that way, though."

"If you do it the way you keep on doing it you will be unable to block quick blows that come from behind!" Ira frowned.

"I thought you said _a good swordsman doesn't attack behind their opponents' backs_," she imitated.

"VOOOII! I never said it like that!" Squalo waved his sword wildly and Ira giggled.

"Calm down, I was just saying . . ."

"Look, not every swordsman is honourable. Not every fight is fair. You need to be prepared for anything." Squalo gave her a serious glare to prove his point and Ira nodded.

"So, how do I hold it again?" she asked when Squalo waited for her to rearrange her hold on the handle. He sighed again knowing without a doubt it was going to be a long five weeks of training to turn her into even a semi-decent sword fighter.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

A week later, Squalo and Mammon were both exhausted from teaching Ira. However, if they were tired, she must have been so many times worse. She stopped coming to meals, instead choosing to go down late in the evenings and early in the mornings. Even Xanxus noticed this. He wasn't very happy about it. So, he forced himself to talk to her one night seeing as she barely listened to anyone else.

"Woman." Ira, who had been helping herself to some carrots and sliced ham, jumped. She turned guiltily, not meeting Xanxus' gaze. "What the _fuck_ are you doing?"

"Eating dinner," she mumbled to the floor having suddenly found something interesting about her feet.

"Why not eat it with the other scum? If you keep it up, the god damned Ninth will never get what is coming to him because you will have eaten yourself into a fucking hole."

"Well, I have to study and train, otherwise Squalo and Mammon will get mad when I don't excel as fast as I should."

"That is the most fucking bull shit I have ever heard." Ira looked up finally, eyes narrowing as he accused her of lying through the situation.

"What do you expect? I have now only five weeks to learn seven different languages, including my own, as well as perfect a fighting style, but I am supposed to have time for you too?"

"Is that the fucking problem then?"

"What?" Ira took a step back.

"Being overly damned stressed."

"What else would it be? I have no time for anything else. I hate it, but I am doing it not only for revenge, but to make you happy. I take it that it isn't working then!?"

Xanxus snorted. She had a _long_ way to go if she wanted to make him happy. "Eat dinner with the rest of the trash, woman." Then he left. Ira looked reluctantly at the food, her hunger no longer existent. She knew he was right. So, she put the food away and went upstairs to her room. In minutes she fell fast asleep.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

Xanxus, being the _great_ brother he was, was in his sister's room while she was away with the shark trash, training on Death Mountain. He had heard a conversation between the Arcobaleno and the woman about how she should keep a diary to improve her writing. She had agreed. So here he was, looking for it. He was honestly curious.

"Tch, isn't this familiar?" he muttered, thinking back to the day he found out the truth about his bloodline. Now, instead of the Ninth's office, it was his sister's room. Who knew what he was going to find.

He had already been in there for the better half of ten minutes before he finally stumbled across the item he was looking for. A spiral bound notebook with the name Ira written on it in shaky letters. He flipped it open to the first page. It was less than half a page long, the writing messy and words spaced with large, finger wide gaps.

_Dear Diary,_

_Mammon said I should keep a diary to get rid of extra thoughts and work on my printing, so here I am. But, what am I supposed to be writing? I mean, I can see what Mammon wants, but I just don't know what to write about. It isn't as if someone will read this. Will they? Is this a secret test? Because if it is then I don't want to do it. Well, I'll see._

_Ira_

Xanxus rolled his eyes. He expected that to be all she had written, but he turned the page and came upon a much longer entry that seemed much more promising.

_Dear Diary,_

_I booby trapped the diary, but it seems no one read it so I guess that means that I am writing letter to a book. When I asked Mammon if that was the point he said it was._

_He really is a nice baby when he isn't talking about money and how much people are wasting it here. Squalo is really nice, too. I think he is my first real friend. He looks out for me and gets Lussuria to leave me alone. He shouts too much, though. I wish he would be quiet._

Xanxus smirked. At least they shared _something_ in common about that damned self proclaimed strategy captain.

_Then there is Lussuria. He is always trying to force me to do and wear things I don't want to. He won't go away, even when I tell him to. He is so . . . annoying._

_And there's Bel. He scares me. But, maybe he is a little bit like me in that what he is isn't because he wanted to be it, but because he was raised in a way that it was his only way to keep on living. If that makes any sense. I don't think so, but I wrote it in pen so . . . _

_Then there is Levi. He scares me more than Bel. He is always watching me like I might break. I think he likes Xanxus. If he does, I don't want to be around for their wedding . . . hm, would Xanxus even say yes? Just the thought makes me laugh._

Xanxus glared at the sentence. What. The. Fuck. Was the woman drunk when she wrote this? He kept reading, almost dreading what he would read about himself.

_But that leaves me with Xanxus. In so many ways, he is what I remember him as. Angry, always angry, and frowning, but in his own way he shows that he cares, even if that means swearing and being mean about it. He is my brother and for that I love him. I love him even more because he got me out of Vendicare, away from my hell. I suppose the Ninth is his hell. I want to help him in the same way that he helped me. I will do whatever it takes to help Xanxus get rid of the Ninth and become the next leader of the Vongola Family. I can only hope that I am able to do it though. I am scared that I won't be strong enough or I won't be smart enough or think fast enough. _

_Well, dinner is ready. I need to go. Just . . . never mind, I am talking to a stupid book._

_Ira_

Xanxus reread the part about him many times. So, she was finally ready. She wanted what he wanted in a way that he didn't even need to do anything. Maybe she was a little more like him than he thought. Oh, no, what the fuck was he thinking? That was complete and utter bull shit. When he picked apart her paragraph for differences between himself and the woman it was clear. She had a wish to make him happy. Xanxus couldn't remember ever wanting to make someone else happy. She loved people. Xanxus did not love people. No. He used them as tools to get what he wanted, to display the power he had. That was that.

Still, Xanxus read on to the next entry.

_Dear Diary,_

_I want the Ninth dead. I want him to suffer like I have. I don't want him to die when he deserves worse. I just want him to hurt and feel like he can never escape, to keep breathing even when he doesn't want to, to want to die so badly, but not have any control over his own fate. That would make me happy. True happiness . . . true happiness _is_ his pain._

_Ira_

Xanxus continued to smirk to himself. He looked forward to the day that the Ninth would suffer for lying to him, for taking away parts of his life, for making a fool out of him. He deserved it.

"VOOOOII!" Xanxus swore. They were back and he could be caught reading his sister's diary. Like some common trash creeper. Putting the book where he found it, Xanxus exited the room, an unfamiliar speed in his steps. Maybe he needed more alcohol. He had been seriously lacking it that day and with the loud shark back he was going to need some. Scratch that. He was going to need a _hell_ of a lot more.

While storming through the hallways, he spotted one of the kitchen staff scurrying back to her post.

"Oi, scum," he called to her. Startled, she jumped and spun around to bow to him. "Bring some wine to my office, trash."

"Y-your office, my Lord?"

"Yes, my office. Or I'll blow your fucking head off." Eyes widening, the petite woman ran down the hallway, anxious to get rid of the daunting task assigned to her.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Ira stumbled through the door, sweat coating her skin in a thick layer. Squalo had pushed her hard on Death Mountain. She was exhausted and wanted nothing more to sleep, but according to Squalo, they had to go check in with Xanxus first.

"We'll go more into technique tomorrow, woman."

"We are training still tomorrow?" she huffed as she staggered up the stairs beside him.

"Voi, if you want to succeed in any type of revenge against any mafia family the size of the Vongola family, you better be training every day, woman." Ira sighed. Whenever it came to Squalo and sword fighting it was all or nothing. No less or you were deemed a worthless opponent. And that was the end of that story.

"Why can't you just go tell Xanxus we came back? I am sure he heard you come in anyways." If Ira knew Xanxus like she thought she did then she was _positive_ that he knew they were back. But, Squalo was one for a decent sense of order in the Varia. Sometimes, at least. In other words, when it suited him the best. The past few weeks, for example were perfect examples of Squalo not being orderly. True, he clocked in when he returned, but with all the time he was spending on training Ira to be a swordswoman, he had chosen to neglect the daily paperwork. It was all stacked away in his office waiting patiently to be filled out or thrown in the garbage.

"Woman, I am trying to save my ass, you got that?" Ira smiled like she always did when Squalo or her brother were involved.

"Well, if it is your ass then fine," she laughed, slowly regaining some energy.

"Tch, damn woman."

Moments later they were standing side by side in front of the only threatening office door in the Varia house. The door itself was not larger than any in the hall, nor did it have a fancy engraved name plate screwed to signify what lay inside. Instead, there were scorch marks and indents along the edges. An even greater amount of chipped paint

Squalo knocked, looking over at his female companion. She was actually a decent sword user. If it weren't for the fact that she had little to no endurance, he would have deemed her ready to take on professional Mafioso. But she didn't last long and her technique lagged in places leaving her open. Still, for her to go from useless in battle to being able to hold her own in less than a few weeks, she was doing quite well. Not that he planned on voicing that thought.

"Enter, trash." Squalo allowed for Ira to go in first and entered closely behind her. "Well?"

"I think the woman will be ready in a week or so." Ira gave an exhausted sigh at the mention of her "woman" title.

"Good, I have a mission that needs doing. Find someone to do it with her." He tossed a manila file onto his desk, marked by a fat red stamp that indicated a terminated contract and a pending assassination. Squalo also saw Ira's eyes light up from the corner of his eye. What a strange woman indeed.

"Right, Boss." He left the room, Ira following closely behind, ready for her new assignment.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

**Xanxus! You bloody creeper! Reading your sister's diary D: Well, I'm sorry this chapter is total crap. Oh well. Now you can look forward to the next update. Thanks for reading~ **

**And I really hate that new Taylor Swift song...never ever ever will I listen to it again...ever. **


	4. Chapter 4

**~CHAPTER 4 MARTA MARTA~**

**Thank you to MissCuriousBird, ****Rejected-Starr****, ****Angelgirl236****, ****Clocked002****, and ****DisillusionedNight**** for reviewing chapter 3. Belated thank you to l****ong live marshmallows****, ****MissCuriousBird****, and ****DisillusionedNight**** for reviewing chapter 2. You guys are awesome~**

**Author's Note: When I asked my sister how to start this chapter, she said one word, "Marta." So, this is what I came up with. Therefore, this chapter, its title and all of its Marta glory-ness is dedicated to her.**

Marta Alvintzi, famed hair stylist in Southern Austria, was closing up her shop. Tired from that day's long list of clients, she prepared herself to go home, grabbing her bag, coat and keys. When passing by one of the many mirrors lining the shop she noticed with slight disappointment the dark circles under her eyes. She sighed. She had just barely managed to scrape up enough money for this month's deadline. She knew it had been close and that if she didn't make her next payments earlier they would come after her. What would her family say if they found out she had been killed by a mafia family from _Italy_? Her reputation as a hairstylist would be ruined seeing as she had dabbled in the underworld like some desperate wench.

Taking a few calming breaths, Marta pulled on her expensive fur coat before a wave of guilt went through her. The money she had used to buy the coat could have gone towards payments for the dirty deed . . .

She had never meant for their competition for customers to go that far. But when that woman had threatened to spread those rumours about her and her salon, she had to do it. She was desperate. She had called the Varia, offered them a brilliant sum of money that she didn't have in exchange for killing the rival hair stylist in town. Now she struggled to bring home enough money to make both the monthly payments and put food on the table. She barely had enough to send her sons off to school.

"Well, do we just go in?" a female voice questioned. Marta froze. She ran to the front windows and looked outside. The street lights that lit up the street betrayed no presence. Breathing heavily, Marta locked the door and shut the blinds.

_They are speaking Italian . . . it must be them. Taunting me . . ._

"Ushishi~ Would you like to go in first?" Marta swore, her hands searching for a weapon.

"I guess. Are you sure she's in there still? It looks kind of dark." She came out victorious with a pair of scissors.

"She just shut the blinds. She knows we are here, ushishishi~" Marta began sweating. She ran to the back door only to find that it was somehow locked from the outside.

"I paid your money. Leave me alone!" she called out, returning to the front room. Bizarre laughter filtered through the salon.

"Ushishi~" A soft thud came from behind her. **"**Found you."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Bel had been chosen to accompany Ira on her first official mission. It was an easy target in Austria, some hair stylist who had displeased Xanxus in some way. She had long been on his To Die list, along with the Ninth, of course, but Xanxus had never seen her at the top of his list of priorities. That is, until her saw her as the perfect opportunity to use as a test subject for his darling sister's first kill.

Bel had been told to accompany her. He hadn't been all that pleased at first until he had been told (rather disgustedly) that he could show her one of the many ways to kill one's targets. That had given him enough initiative to go with her on the trip.

They had easily found Marta's Hair Necessities on the second morning of their trip. They watched it all day, a bustling hub of gossip and fashion, until finally the lights that lit up the outdoor sign turned off. Finally, Bel told her it was the time to act.

"Well, do we just go in?" Ira asked from the rooftop, gazing downwards at the quiet street.

"Ushishi~ Would you like to go in first?" Bel, who was crouched by a rooftop grate, looked at her, grinning.

"I guess. Are you sure she's in there still? It looks kind of dark." Ira looked back over the edge of the building while Bel pulled the grate back to reveal a ventilation system into the salon.

"She just shut the blinds. She knows we are here, ushishishi~" he replied, standing back up to full height. Ira jumped down first; Bel looked either way before he too followed in after her. They crawled through the vent system for a few moments before they heard a woman, presumably their target, shouting.

"I paid your money. Leave me alone!" Bel started laughing, each syllable echoing in the small space, in turn, throughout the store. Ira found an exit vent and crawled across it to give Bel access to it first.

"Ushishi~" He hopped down. **"**Found you." Ira followed right after, unnoticed. She ended up opposite of Bel as he drew their mark's attention.

"So what, do we just kill her?" Ira asked, pulling her sword from its sheath. Their mark, Marta, looked back at her, frozen with fear.

"W-why!?"

"What do you mean why?" Ira asked, looking at Bel who, like always, just laughed. She seemed honestly curious.

He grabbed one of his knives and pulled it close to his mouth, dragging his tongue along its blade. "Time to die, peasant." Marta screamed, throwing the only pair of scissors she had at Bel who laughed at the feeble attack. Did the peasant think she could kill the prince with a pair of scissors? Highly unlikely.

"I didn't do anything! I paid the money, I always have!" Bel didn't respond and instead threw all of his knives at sections of wall behind the target. Ira frowned while Bel laughed some more. Prey: trapped. Though, he had gotten Ira stuck as well for she had been inspecting a table just behind the mark.

"Bel . . . I'm stuck now."

"S-Stuck?" Marta stuttered. Bel grinned. Unlucky prey, for the prince to have been chosen to end their life.

"Try to move, peasant. You may find yourself unable to." Marta didn't, to which Bel frowned slightly. She was too scared. Though, she did make the game all more fun when she went back to pleading immediately after.

"I have a family! If I die, there will be no money!" Her eyes were wide, riddled with fear as her body trembled at the possibility of her own downfall approaching.

"Pay us the rest of the money then maybe I'll consider letting you go." Bel took out another knife and began fiddling with it. Ira sighed from her spot. She probably knew the prince was toying with the peasant.

"I don't get what we are waiting for. Can't we just kill her and go back home?" Ira looked rather bored to be completely honest.

"Ushishi~ let the prince finish teaching first." Ah, yes, that was what he was doing, wasn't it? Who knew the prince had resorted to teaching the scary boss' sister? Then again, if Mammon was one of her teachers, she at least needed a decent teacher that could actual give her some useful information.

"How can you be one of them?!" Marta cried turning to face Ira, before realizing that she wasn't dead after she moved. She took it upon herself to approach the female assassin who was directly behind her, before pain ran through her ankle. Bel cackled. The smell of blood was already permeating the air, the blood lust starting inside Bel's own mind as the distinct scent entered his nose.

"That isn't any of your business. Bel, please just do what you're going to do."

"The prince was just trying to show how fun it can be to play with your target, watching the life slowly drain from their common bodies." Bel threw another knife, this one aimed for her other ankle. Marta fell quickly, the pain being too great for her. She crawled along the floor, pulled herself with her upper arms to the door on her left side. Bel watched happily as she approached the wires he had set up earlier. The woman stopped abruptly as she felt a strange pain along her cheek. She touched it, surprised to see blood. She tried to move again, but the cuts were multiple this time, and much deeper due to the force she had used. Bel laughed as the wires came into play at last with a decent reaction.

She didn't move again.

"Why are you doing this?" Marta sobbed, the tears finally escaping. "I did all that I could."

"Ushishi~ You have been deemed unreliable. And now the prince has a reason to bring about your end." Bel threw another knife, this one at the finger which held Marta's wedding ring. She gave out a fierce scream as the finger separated from her being and onto the floor, now a useless appendage.

"W-what reason?" she mustered out, gripping the bleeding knuckle.

"Training," Bel said simply, throwing a round of knives and watching them all hit their target body parts. Shoulder, thigh, wrist, forearm. Marta's screams echoed longer this time, but went unheard.

"Does it always take you this long?" Ira asked quietly, her eyes never leaving Marta's shaking body. Bel didn't look up either from his unfortunate victim who was still alive on the floor, the knives in her body glinting in the faint light from another room.

"The commoners usually put up more of a fight against the prince," he said, his smile never leaving his face. He prepared more knives, fanning them out between his fingers. He threw them with more force, hoping for full penetration. The knives hit their target and more screams followed. Ira never moved. She couldn't, really, not even if she wanted to.

"So that is why you are making her feel more pain?"

"Ushishishi~" What were really minutes went by like hours as Bel took his sweet time dragging his knives across Marta's body, blood seeping through her clothes and gathering in a small pool around her whole body. The glee on Bel's face went unmatched. He felt as if he were creating art, turning a peasant's distasteful body into something even royalty would wish to look upon. The best part was the fact that it was live art.

"Please, please stop," Marta whimpered, her cerulean eyes slowly going dark. By this point she was missing several fingers and her ankles were all but cut off from their joints. Most of her long russet hair had been cut away too and now scattered the floor in clumps. How much blood had she lost now? In any case, the blood that was not remaining inside her body to keep her alive had travelled across the sloped floor, the opposite way that Ira was.

"Ushishi~" Bel stood, having finally removed all of his knives from his sculpture's body and hidden them away on his own. "The boss said that you had to finish it," he said, looking up at Ira. "You should do it now before she dies of _natural_ causes."

Ira sighed, holding out the sword she had spent the last few weeks training so hard with. She walked across the floor, the blood splashing up slightly with every step she took. Her first official kill. How simply exciting!

"I would have regretted doing this if it weren't for the fact that it is your fault anyways." Marta looked up at her, her face pale and emotionless. It seemed as if she had finally accepted her inevitable death. "If you had the heart to hire us to do this to someone else, I have no problems doing it to you." Ira brought the blade down and with one swift cut, Marta's head was separated from her body and sent rolling across the floor, an open mouthed expression being the last thing the victim had had the time to do.

Outside, it appeared as if someone had finally heard the screams and called the police. The flashing of red and blue cop lights shone through the partially closed blinds.

Bel, who had not one drop of blood on him, laughed. "Time to go~" Ira nodded and promptly followed Bel out the back door, which had been idiotically left un-surrounded.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Oh, thank goodness you two returned unharmed!" Lussuria fawned over the two returning from their mission. Ira dealt with the attention somewhat reluctantly before trying her hardest to _politely_ excuse herself to get ready for dinner.

What she really planned to do was see Xanxus, not that the others needed to know.

"Come in, trash," was the answer when she knocked. Ira had learned to expect it, but Xanxus had yet to expect her.

"Xanxus, is that how you kill people every time? Torture them, then watch them die?" Xanxus sighed. He knew sending that smiley trash with her was a bad idea. However, the failure in teaching his sister the life of a true assassin that admired their work was but a small hitch in his plans to make her the ultimate revenge against the Ninth.

"That is how that trash handles things."

"Do _you_ do that?" she asked intensely.

"Does it bug _you_?" he shot back with similar intensity.

"I . . ." Ira wasn't sure. She had watched the whole assassination as Bel had made it, almost too stunned by it to move. When he had asked her to finish that woman, Ira had forced herself to think of a reason. That reason became that the hair stylist was really no better than any of the Varia. She was the one who had paid for that murder. In a sense, Ira had really only delivered justice that would never have come otherwise. Wasn't that what the Varia did? They were paid to kill the already corrupt. The ones that paid them would end up dead in their own game at some point and those that didn't would hopefully get it after they died. At least, some part of Ira hoped they did. But. Was she really ok with how vulgar their methods were?

It could be, because it all boiled down to the same explanation.

"No. I don't think so. At least, not as much as it should."

"Then I think we're done, woman."

"One last thing." Xanxus remained silent, a signal to finish what she was thinking. "When do we get revenge on . . . on _him?_" Xanxus forced himself not to smirk at her progress. She was almost ready, if she was thinking about it enough to ask him.

"Soon, woman." Xanxus watched her leave. It was still hard to believe they were related, but it was not impossible anymore.

He realized that he treated her differently than the others. He refrained from calling her 'trash' and called her 'woman' instead. She looked a lot like him too, he noticed.

However, she was still nothing compared to him.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Voi, woman." Squalo had been sitting in the living room with Ira for the past half hour and she had done nothing but stare at her hands.

"Yes?" She looked up at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"Tch, be more specific, woman."

Ira smiled. It seemed that was all she ever did. "Waiting."

"For . . . ?"

"The day that I can finally get revenge on _him_." Squalo noted how she never called him father or the Ninth, just _him_. It wasn't as if they were blood related anyways, assuming Xanxus had told her that. But then, Xanxus had said he wanted her to seek revenge against the Ninth, so, in order for her to want to hurt him to the extent Xanxus hoped, she would need to build up enough anger and hate. That hate would be helped along with the truth of her origins. It had all been part of the original plan.

"_You have a sister?!" A glass of crystal flew at Squalo, hitting its mark dead center. _

"_That's what I said, trash." Squalo scowled. And here he was thinking he knew everything there was to know about his boss. _

"_Anything else you want to tell me while we are at it? A wife? Some kids maybe?" he demanded._

"_Fuck off scum. If we want to bring down the Ninth we need her." Xanxus took a slow sip from a new glass that appeared seemingly from nowhere. _

"_And where exactly _is_ she?" __Squalo questioned._

"_Vendicare." Squalo coughed. __He had been thinking Africa, the Bahamas, America, but _Vendicare_?_

"_So, what did she do to end up there?" Kill off whole families, brutally murder some important allies, attempt to kill the Ninth, practically _succeed_ in killing the Ninth . . . _

_Xanxus remained silent, eying Squalo with his piercing gaze._

"_Nothing."_

"_Boss, you don't do nothing and end up in Vendicare."_

_Xanxus remained silent, though Squalo was ready for another glass to come flying in his direction._

"_God damn it, what the hell is so important about her that we need to go get her out of Vendicare for this?"_

"_Ultimate revenge," Xanxus growled. "Now get the fuck out." In other words, get your ass out the front door and get a move on. Squalo grunted, not satisfied with the answers he got, but he left, not ready to be pelted with more glass. _

That left only one question. Did she know that she was being moulded into someone who lived for revenge? To Squalo, the girl before him, dare he say, his _friend_, was not the person he pinned as one for gory revenge, but then again, he never thought Xanxus would have a soft spot for a girl, his sister no less. Looked like the Varia was full of surprises.

"Squalo? Are you okay?" Squalo jumped and Ira stood up straight. While in his thoughts she had managed to come up before him and startle him.

"VOOOI! Woman, I'm fine."

Ira put her hands on her hips before shaking her head and sitting back down into the chair she had been occupying.

They went back to sitting in silence. Bel was off tormenting some new staff recruits, Lussuria was guy watching in town, Levi was guarding Xanxus' door, and Mammon was in the treasury, probably rolling around in the money that was his.

"You know," Ira said suddenly, breaking the silence. "When I was in Vendicare I only ever thought of revenge." She pushed herself back into the plush cushions, putting her legs over the arm of the chair.

"What?"

"Revenge. Against my . . . _father_," she hissed, "_and_ his guardians. I have hated them for so long, that to know that I can finally get what I have always wanted, what I have been dreaming of and planning for . . . it's nice."

"You were reluctant during training," Squalo pointed out, curious for her reasoning.

"I . . . no matter what, if I was ever put against him, face to face, I would lose," she admitted. "He is so much stronger than me. I would be training, but for what?"

"VOOII! Then train so you can beat the shit out of him, damn it." Ira smiled. In his own way Squalo was a great friend. Not that she planned on telling him that.

**What a nice friendship those two have XD**


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: I doubt these events are in the right order, but bear with me for the sake of the story.

Ok, I have been gone for almost five months. Everyone should thank **MissCuriousBird** for bringing me back from the dead (Yay for shout outs!). I'm sorry I disappeared, as well as for the shortness of this chapter, but please go check out my **new story** which I should have uploaded by this point called **Escaping the Dark**.

Thanks to the people who so long ago reviewed (_DisillusionedNight_, _Gardenlovebug, long live marshmallows, a simple fan, MissCuriousBird _and_ Rejected Starr_). Your support is awesome and I hope I haven't lost any of you.

I also have a **poll** up on my **profile** for an OC story. Please **vote**. Or send your answer in a review ;)

Disclaimer: Don't own, wish I did. End of story.

**~CHAPTER 5 OF REGRETS AND ENGLISH LITERATURE~**

Ira was alone. Someone had spilled the information that there was a possibility that the Vongola Rings, the key to succeeding the boss of the Vongola Family, had been sent away to another candidate. Immediately, all the main Vongola officers, including lifeless Gola Mosca, as well as a large number of subordinates had gone to the main Vongola base to investigate. Never had she heard Xanxus swear so much.

In other words, Ira was alone at the base. She had no one to train with and no one to tutor her. She wandered the hallways and the maids all avoided her in fear of what she might do to them. She didn't necessarily mind, she just wished she had something more to do. Something that would take her mind off of whatever was happening at the head Vongola base.

Deciding to head down to the library to work on her kanji, Ira ditched her useless wandering.

In the library, she immediately set off to work, pulling out more of the heavy books that Mammon had been teaching her with. Flipping open one of the larger volumes, she began reading a summary of how to write certain letters. Luckily, the book itself was written in Italian, providing easier understanding of what she was supposed to be doing.

Hours passed and Ira studied undisturbed in the library, taking in her fill of information. It was starting to get easier, learning all the different languages. Not only was she extending her vocabulary, she was also expanding her knowledge of the world. For instance, while reading a book written in Spanish about the Mexican mafia, Ira learned several new ways to kill and maim people. Many of which were painful and definitely undesirable.

Finally, it was lunch time; Ira's eyes were red from the strain of reading the small print and her stomach was growling. Deciding to get some lunch (which she begrudgingly admitted she would have to eat by herself without the familiarity of the other officers eating it with her), Ira packed away her things and exited the peace of the library.

In the hallway, many a servant was scampering around, trying to clean the Varia bedrooms before their leaders returned. Ira chuckled every time one of them saw her and stared. She was still a mystery to many of them, a stranger who really had no reason to be there. It occurred to none of them that she was related to their very own boss. That would be like the devil walking the earth and merely admiring the flowers instead of causing immeasurable amounts of damage and chaos. Not exactly likely, maybe not even thought to be possible.

Ira yawned, finally having made it to the kitchen. She had the decency to knock, knowing that the kitchen staff were uncomfortable with the people of the Varia just barging in and ordering food.

"Yes?" one of them asked, coming to the door and poking his head out as if it were a rabid beast standing outside instead of a woman.

"I am kind of hungry," she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Do you have any preference as to what you would like to eat for lunch, madam?"

"Whatever you feel like making is fine, nothing too fancy. I'll eat it in my room."

"Right away." The servant gave a small bow before disappearing back inside the kitchen to give her order to the actual cooking staff. Ira, on the other hand, made her way back to her room, the route memorized in her head. She would wait for the return of her family because that was what the Varia was to her – her extremely loud, obnoxious family.

When Ira had first awoken in the Varia mansion, her thoughts flashed to an image of the brief family she had found with the Ninth generation Vongola, but, after spending a few months in the company of the Varia she realized who her true family was.

There were her tsundere brothers, Squalo and Xanxus. The two were so similar it made her smile. Then there was Lussuria, her overbearing mother who wanted to do everything for her daughter, no matter how much the girl pushed her away. Then there was her deranged little brother who lived in a dream where he was royalty and everyone else was beneath him. Next came the emotionally troubled, nonexistent, depressed child, Levi, who the family preferred not to talk about. Lastly there was the genius baby who saved all the money he could in hopes of one day being a millionaire (so what if he already was?).

They were her family and in the end, seeing as they accepted her and saved her, she would do anything for them. If she had to kill a thousand men for their safety she would. If she had to starve out in the wilderness for their wellbeing she would. If she was forced to go back to Vendicare for their freedom she would. And this was because the Varia was the one thing that she had only ever dreamed of having—a real family that, despite its flaws, stuck together through everything.

That was when Ira heard a familiar voi.

Ira smiled. It seemed like whenever Squalo came back from an outing, he felt the need to do that when he came through the door.

The black haired woman jumped off her bed and ran down the stairs, hoping for good news. When she reached the base of the stairs, she looked upon the group who had left only six hours earlier. All of them were slick with blood and sweat. Luckily, the blood did not appear to be their own. But, their faces were rather empty, devoid of any emotion meaning that something had happened.

"W-what happened?" she asked, looking at Xanxus who wore a very large scowl. He ignored her, instead turning to Squalo.

"Get going, scum. Don't bother coming back unless you have them."

"Right, boss." Squalo pushed by her and left the group. The others dispersed too leaving Ira and Xanxus alone.

"Well?" she asked again.

"The god damned Ninth sent the ring halves to another candidate. Sawada Tsunayoshi," he hissed, venom evident in is voice.

"So . . . so that means what?" she questioned shakily, hoping it was just her not understanding the situation properly.

"That kid gets those rings and we have to do some fucking battle to get them officially."

"What about the Ninth?" He turned his head slightly and looked at the side where Gola Mosca emitted a seemingly unhealthy amount of steam.

"Tch, the old man's life is draining away slowly as we speak."

"Is he suffering?"

"It's what the old man deserves."

After a few moments of silent contemplation, Ira looked up, stunned. If Xanxus didn't get those rings he wouldn't be the Tenth. There would be no revenge. Revenge. Revenge was her life. Without it she had nothing to fight for, to breathe for, to eat for, to _live _for.

"What if it does come down to a fight and you don't win?!" Xanxus frowned. He had noticed the tears in her eyes.

"Why the fuck are you crying, woman? You don't think if I have to fight the little brat I will win?"

"I . . . it's just that . . ." She pushed a stray strand of glossy black hair from her face before wiping away the water in her eyes. "Xanxus, you _have_ to win."

"Woman, we planned for shit like this." Ira nodded.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't fucking apologize. Just be ready for whatever other shit comes at us, got it?" She nodded again.

"Thanks Xanxus."

"Tch, stupid woman." Back to normal. Almost.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Xanxus eyed Gola Mosca with a look of contempt as the woman left.

"Stupid old man, thinking I would ever let you get away with all that shit you pulled."

He paused in silent contemplation. He really needed his alcohol if he was talking to an unresponsive machine. He had missed out on seven of his hourly bottles. What a recipe for disaster.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

At that moment, the Ninth regretted. Broken inside Gola Mosca, a mere life source for the machine to work, the Ninth thought back to every mistake he had made in his life time. From the son he loved and raised as his own to the daughter he shut away in darkness and never knew. They were mistakes he had made. One he spoiled too much the other was never given a chance to be spoiled.

He remembered the day he had met the two of them so clearly. Walking through the unwelcoming streets, a few of his guardians at his side, he had come across a delirious woman and her two children. Clearly twins, but just as clearly opposites. The girl was smaller than her brother, her little hand intertwined in his. Her face bore a frightened look. The boy on the other hand, while seeming to hold onto his sister's hand with just as much force, wore a mixture between a scowl and a frown. However, both of them looked up at him with startling red eyes, short black hair on both their heads.

He was just as stunned as those around him when the woman confessed that they were his own blood. But how could they be? Then the boy showed him his flames. It was undeniably the Flame of Wrath judging by the way it burned furiously. The girl, still holding her brother's hand stared at the flames dancing in his other palm, eyes reflecting the image clearly.

He remembered the thought that had run through his head, the instant acknowledgement of what he would have to do. He accepted them as his own, brought them to his home, fed them, washed them, provided luxurious rooms in which to sleep, and yet dread filled him. Guilt for what he would have to do to only one of them.

He called the Vendice and told them the truth, asking them to lock her away. They had come, there had been screaming and tears, oh so many tears, and then she was gone, out of their lives forever for something she had yet to do and probably never thought she would do.

With only Xanxus left, he spoiled him. He gave the boy everything he could to make up for the loss of his sister, Ira. A part of him hoped that as time passed Xanxus would push aside his memories of her and pass them as made up. But he knew better. Xanxus was too headstrong.

Time passed and Xanxus was appointed the leader of the Varia. Squalo, a gentle boy, friends with young Dino Chiavarone, had taken a liking to him and offered him the placing. And so he ruled the Varia, his own private kingdom inside another's.

Even more time passed and soon Xanxus, his beloved son, the boy taken off the streets, found out the truth about himself and his sister. But never the whole truth as to why she was gone. No, he found out that they were never related to the Ninth. The two of them never did belong in the luxury they had been offered but on the streets that they had come from.

Then came the coup d'état. Xanxus and the people recruited into the Varia attacked the Vongola base. They were so close to victory, so close to vengeance that when the Ninth had looked upon his son, he could only see the monster he had created. A boy, driven by the need for power, wanting nothing more than to really be the lie he had been told his whole life. And so the Ninth froze him, hoping that he could erase his mistakes, erase the mess he had made as if it had never existed.

But, the Ninth . . . he knew that messes like that never just disappeared. You could try to hide them all you want, but unless you took proper precautions and bleached away all that remained, it would still exist, stuck inside the very fibres of the place it fell.

At that very moment, the Ninth only wished he could have taken back all that he did. Then Ira wouldn't be in Vendicare, in the body of a twenty four year old with the mind of a six year old, Xanxus wouldn't be out for blood and his other sons wouldn't be dead. Everyone would just be happy. And he could tell them how much he was sorry. How much he regretted every choice he had ever made concerning them.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Mammon, this book you gave me doesn't make sense." Mammon, who was sitting in the library doing his accounting work, looked over the stack of papers on the desk in front of him at Ira who was frowning.

"Muu, what one was it?"

"The one in English about some little people, lots of war, a ring and giant elephants called oliphaunts."

"Hm?"

"The Lord of the Rings," she said finally, tossing the book she was holding into the air and catching it as it fell.

"That trilogy is quite popular. It made lots of money." He promptly returned to his numbers, calculating all the money that had been wasted away that month. Someone was going to pay, that much was obvious.

"Why though? The book could have been shortened to at least one tenth of its original size if they had just gotten the eagles to _fly_ them to the mountain. Then they could have avoided all the fighting and deaths, none of them would have died except for an eagle or two, they wouldn't have needed such a big Fellowship and everyone would have been happy." Ira exhaled, flipping through the crisp pages of book three, the one she had just finished.

"Don't ask me about how the human mind works," Mammon said, looking back at his papers, already having lost interest in the conversation.

"But it still doesn't make sense. The two little people, Frodo and Sam, they really act like they like each other, but they never get together! Then what about the elf and the dwarf that seem to like each other too, but they only ever smile at each other and talk as if there is nothing going on between them? The only people that get together are that Strider guy and the elf girl who don't have as much of a relationship as the others." Ira finally put the book down on top of one of the money diaries Mammon had just finished working with. She was too busy fretting over the book to notice Mammon's disapproving expression. At long last, he sighed, putting the page he was looking at down.

"It was a book, written for the sake of getting money and as long as people want to buy it, the flaws don't matter."

"So I could write a book that makes absolutely no sense, put in lots of boy love and fighting and talking trees and smart Elves that know everything but don't do anything and creepy little used-to-be-hobbit things with multiple personalities and people will like it?" She sounded so unsure. Surprise, surprise.

Mammon fell silent. He still doubted this girl's intelligence. But, in a way, she did have an idea. If he wanted more money he could just write a book with lots of components that people would like and then sell it, gaining money as people ate it up. But, how long did it take to write a book these days?

"Uh, Mammon?" she prompted.

"Most likely," he said, answering the original question.

"Maybe Xanxus should do that." Ira sighed. "He needs a hobby. I worry about him, always in his office, on his chair." She tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear, glancing at the ground with a thoughtful look on her face.

"I don't think the Boss would write very good books," Mammon thought aloud. He could just imagine the story now.

There was a man named Trash. He was powerful and everybody feared him. He had a group of other trash that followed his every command. There was Shark-trash who looked like a woman, Fag-trash who looked like a woman, Smiley-trash who acted and looked like a brat, Pervert-trash who practically stalked him and Baby-trash who was greedy. Tired of their shenanigans, Trash picked up his guns and prepared to kill all of his trash followers. In seconds, the trash were dead. He ruled his throne alone and no one defied him again. The end.

"Why not?" Mammon blinked from under his hood.

"Boss doesn't seem like the type. Now go bug Bel." He had money to count.

"But when I asked him about it, he just told me that they got rid of the ring the hard way because they all wanted to see blood." Mammon shook his head disappointedly. She was as clueless as ever.

"Ushishi~ Talking behind my back, peasant?" Ira shook her head as Bel entered the room, hands clasped behind his head in his usual fashion.

"I was asking Mammon about The Lord of the Rings."

"And it's about shedding blood, right Mammy?"

Mammon, being the shrewd baby he was, replied with one word. "Money."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

I have a feeling, I have officially butchered the original canon plot O.O Oh well. I can only hope I am getting away with it, right? Right?!

**Another really long, you-don't-have-to-read Author's Note**: Let me just say, I don't own The Lord of the Rings, nor do I have anything against it. My sister just bought the extended movies and I was noticing how much bro-mance there was. But I must say after hearing the "They're Taking the Hobbits to Isengard" song so many times (if you haven't heard it, go look it up on YouTube, I demand you!), watching the movies and then hearing the lines in the movie, it is just . . . hilarious. No, but I do love LOTR, so this was just me letting off some steam. But there was serious stuff! Like the Ninth being all angsty. And I am trying to move on with the canon story line so we can get into some actual plot and not mindless Ira-being-a-stupid-six-year-old-in-a-twenty-four-year-old's-body stuff. Hehehehee, I'm done, I swear.


End file.
